27.1. A http://www.ck12.org
27.1 A
absolute zero
In 1848 Lord Kelvin observed what happened to the volume of a gas as its temperature fell. For every 1°C
drop in temperature, the gas contracted almost uniformly by 1/273th of its volume at 0°C. He interpreted this
to mean that the volume must fall to zero at -273°C, absolute zero.accuracy
Describes how close a given set of data is to the “real” value.acid
Any compound that produces hydrogen ions (H+) in water.activation energy
The energy that is needed to get reactants close enough together for a reaction to occur.activity series
The electromotive series (or activity series) ranks metals in terms of their ability to participate in oxidation-
reduction reactions.adhesion
Ability to stick to other substances.alchemist
A practitioner of the medieval science of alchemy, which aimed mainly to transform everyday metals into
gold.alcohol
The alcohol functional group is R-OH where R can represent any specific carbon structure. Alcohols can be
primary, secondary, or tertiary.aldehyde
Has a double-bonded carbon-oxygen bond (one sigma bond and one pi bond). The carbon to which the oxygen
is attached has one hydrogen atom connected to it.alkane
Contains only carbon-carbon single bonds.alkene
Contains one or more carbon-carbon double bonds.alkyne
Contains one or more carbon-carbon triple bonds.